When Serum burst on to the scene Aiyn Zahev was quick to harness it’s power and demonstrate it’s versatility with Halcyon Vol.1. In the few years since, Serum has firmly secured itself as a studio staple. Though it’s widely known for growly dubstep basses and the like, Halcyon Vol.2 demonstrates the plasticity of this sound engine.
Sure, Halcyon 2 has it’s fair share of aggressive sounds, distorted and mangled by FM, but there’s also deep digital ambiences & silky pads, contrasted with powerful trance leads that only the best of modern virtual analogs can pull off and unusual but musical FX sounds.

This bank takes inspiration from gear both current and past. Wavetables & static waves have been a favourite ingredient in sun-deprived sound labs for decades. It’s an art, but it’s digital art, formed by small quantized increments here and there until it does what it’s supposed to do. This is why Serum stands out, it has all the precision needed to get those aforementioned silky digital pads and ambience sounds. On the flip side, Serum is a slick VA synth in it’s own right, with dense oscillator stacking and superior effects, that’s where all the rich leads and plucks come from. As for basses in Halcyon 2, Serum users know, a little FM and a bit of distortion go a long way.

New sounds are great, but sometimes artists need a little push to get going, to that end Halcyon Vol.2 includes all the MIDI heard in the audio demo, labeled in order of appearance for easy use. Oh and it’s all royalty free, so have at it.